Pan-Frying Chicken
Cooking Skills: Chicken 1
Chapter 3 · Pan-Frying Chicken
Skill goal
Pan-fry chicken so the outside is golden and the inside cooked through but juicy, then make a pan sauce.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Pan-frying is quick and gives chicken a golden crust. The rules are the ones for any pan-frying: a dry surface, a hot pan, a little oil, and don't move it until it releases by itself. Thighs are forgiving; breasts are lean and need even thickness. A thick breast should be halved horizontally or pounded to about 1.5 cm so the outside doesn't burn before the middle cooks.
After frying, the browned bits stuck to the pan (the fond) become a pan sauce: add stock, lemon and a little butter, scrape and reduce for a few minutes. No wine is needed. For the safe temperature rule see the box: 75°C in the thickest part. Fried chicken proper (a crisp, coated, deep-fried bird) is in Chicken 2. For velouté and cream sauces see Cooking Skills: Sauces 1, chapter 3.
The method
- Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat the pan until the oil shimmers, then lay the chicken in away from you.
- Leave it alone for 5 to 8 minutes until golden and it releases from the pan.
- Turn and finish, in the oven if it is thick, until the thickest part reads 75°C.
- Rest 5 minutes, then make the pan sauce while it sits.
| Cut | Prepare | Cook (approximate) | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thigh, skin on | Pat dry, season | 7 min skin-down, 12 min turned or oven | 75°C, skin crisp |
| Breast, pounded | Pound to 1.5 cm | 5 to 6 minutes a side | 75°C, no pink |
| Schnitzel | Pound, flour-egg-crumb | 3 to 4 minutes a side | Golden, hot through |
| Strips for sauce | Cut into strips | 5 to 7 minutes in total | No pink, juices clear |
Raw chicken, hot oil, temperature and allergens
Raw chicken: the safety rules: raw chicken often carries campylobacter and salmonella. Never wash it (the splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen), keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, use its own board, knife and tongs, wash your hands, boards and tools in hot soapy water afterwards, and never put cooked food back on a plate or board that held raw chicken. Use it by the use-by date, or freeze it on the day you buy it.Hot pan and hot oil: roasting tins and frying pans for browning are very hot and fat spits. Use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out a little before lifting a tray, put hot things on a heatproof surface and keep children away.
Is it cooked? Use a thermometer: chicken is safe when the thickest part reaches 75°C (or 70°C held for 2 minutes), the meat is white all the way through with no pink, and the juices run clear (general guidance, in line with current FSA advice). Push a probe thermometer into the thickest part without touching bone, and for a whole bird check the thickest part of the thigh. If in doubt, cook it longer.
Allergens: chicken itself is not a major allergen, but the dishes around it often contain milk, gluten, egg, mustard, celery, soya and sesame. Check stock cubes and sauces, tell guests what is in a dish, and use separate tools for anyone with an allergy.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Crispy-skin chicken thighs
Boneless, skin-on thighs have the best skin-to-meat ratio for a pan. Start skin-side down in a cold pan with a drop of oil and bring it up to heat so the fat renders slowly and the skin crisps. Press down for the first minute so the skin stays flat.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 8 boneless, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp flaked sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 lemon, in wedges
- Pat the thighs very dry and season. Lay them skin-side down in a cold, heavy pan with the oil, and place a plate or lid on top to keep them flat.
- Cook over a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes without moving until the skin is deep golden and crisp.
- Turn, add the thyme, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes more. Check 75°C, rest for 5 minutes and serve with lemon.
Raw chicken, hot pan and temperature
Raw chicken: the safety rules: raw chicken often carries campylobacter and salmonella. Never wash it (the splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen), keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, use its own board, knife and tongs, wash your hands, boards and tools in hot soapy water afterwards, and never put cooked food back on a plate or board that held raw chicken. Use it by the use-by date, or freeze it on the day you buy it.Hot pan and hot oil: roasting tins and frying pans for browning are very hot and fat spits. Use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out a little before lifting a tray, put hot things on a heatproof surface and keep children away.
Is it cooked? Use a thermometer: chicken is safe when the thickest part reaches 75°C (or 70°C held for 2 minutes), the meat is white all the way through with no pink, and the juices run clear (general guidance, in line with current FSA advice). Push a probe thermometer into the thickest part without touching bone, and for a whole bird check the thickest part of the thigh. If in doubt, cook it longer.
Level 2 · Pan sauce
A pan-fried breast with a lemon and stock pan sauce
Pound the breasts to an even 1.5 cm so they cook in minutes. Fry them, rest them, then in the same pan boil stock and lemon with a spoon of butter to make a glossy sauce. No wine is used.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 2 skinless chicken breasts (about 150 g each)
- 2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 200 ml chicken stock, unsalted
- 1 lemon, juice
- 20 g cold butter, cubed
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- Pound the breasts between baking paper to 1.5 cm. Dust lightly with flour. Fry in the hot oil for 5 to 6 minutes a side until golden. Check 75°C, then lift onto a plate and rest.
- Add the stock and lemon juice to the pan and boil hard for 3 to 4 minutes to reduce by half, scraping up the brown bits.
- Off the heat, swirl in the cold butter and parsley, season, and spoon over the chicken.
Raw chicken, pounding and hot pan
Raw chicken: the safety rules: raw chicken often carries campylobacter and salmonella. Never wash it (the splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen), keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, use its own board, knife and tongs, wash your hands, boards and tools in hot soapy water afterwards, and never put cooked food back on a plate or board that held raw chicken. Use it by the use-by date, or freeze it on the day you buy it.Pounding chicken: pounding breast to an even thickness helps it cook quickly, but it splashes. Put the chicken between two sheets of baking paper or inside a freezer bag, use a rolling pin or the flat of a pan, and wash the pin, board and your hands in hot soapy water straight afterwards.
Hot pan and hot oil: roasting tins and frying pans for browning are very hot and fat spits. Use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out a little before lifting a tray, put hot things on a heatproof surface and keep children away.
Is it cooked? Use a thermometer: chicken is safe when the thickest part reaches 75°C (or 70°C held for 2 minutes), the meat is white all the way through with no pink, and the juices run clear (general guidance, in line with current FSA advice). Push a probe thermometer into the thickest part without touching bone, and for a whole bird check the thickest part of the thigh. If in doubt, cook it longer.
Level 2 · Crumb
Chicken schnitzel
A thin pounded breast in flour, egg and crumbs, shallow-fried until golden. The thinner it is, the quicker it cooks and the crisper the crumb. Keep the oil at medium heat so the crumbs brown before the chicken dries out.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 2 skinless chicken breasts (about 150 g each)
- 3 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
- 1 egg, beaten
- 60 g panko or fresh breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 lemon, in wedges
- Halve the breasts horizontally and pound each piece to 1 cm. Coat in flour, then egg, then crumbs, pressing on gently.
- Heat the oil to a depth of 5 mm over a medium heat until a crumb sizzles gently.
- Fry for 3 to 4 minutes a side until golden and cooked through (75°C). Drain on kitchen paper and serve with lemon.
Raw chicken, pounding, hot oil and egg
Raw chicken: the safety rules: raw chicken often carries campylobacter and salmonella. Never wash it (the splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen), keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, use its own board, knife and tongs, wash your hands, boards and tools in hot soapy water afterwards, and never put cooked food back on a plate or board that held raw chicken. Use it by the use-by date, or freeze it on the day you buy it.Pounding chicken: pounding breast to an even thickness helps it cook quickly, but it splashes. Put the chicken between two sheets of baking paper or inside a freezer bag, use a rolling pin or the flat of a pan, and wash the pin, board and your hands in hot soapy water straight afterwards.
Hot pan and hot oil: roasting tins and frying pans for browning are very hot and fat spits. Use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out a little before lifting a tray, put hot things on a heatproof surface and keep children away.
Allergens: contains egg and gluten.
Level 3 · Sauce
Chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce
Strips of breast, quickly browned and set aside, then mushrooms browned hard, stock added, and the chicken returned to finish gently in cream and mustard. Don't boil the sauce once the cream is in. Serve with rice or mash.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 500 g skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 300 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 200 ml chicken stock, unsalted
- 150 ml double cream
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Brown the chicken strips in 1 tbsp oil for 4 minutes, lift out. Brown the mushrooms in the remaining oil for 6 minutes, add the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Add the stock and boil to reduce by a third. Stir in the cream and mustard and simmer gently for 3 minutes.
- Return the chicken and juices, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through (75°C), and stir in the parsley.
Raw chicken, hot pan, cream and allergens
Raw chicken: the safety rules: raw chicken often carries campylobacter and salmonella. Never wash it (the splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen), keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, use its own board, knife and tongs, wash your hands, boards and tools in hot soapy water afterwards, and never put cooked food back on a plate or board that held raw chicken. Use it by the use-by date, or freeze it on the day you buy it.Hot pan and hot oil: roasting tins and frying pans for browning are very hot and fat spits. Use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out a little before lifting a tray, put hot things on a heatproof surface and keep children away.
Hot milk and cream: milk and cream boil over in seconds and burn worse than water. Keep the heat low, stay at the pan, and add dairy at the end. Never boil a soup once it has cream, or it may split.
Allergens: contains milk, mustard and celery.
Experiments
Experiment
Pounded or whole breast
Evenness.
- Pan-fry one pounded breast and one whole breast for the same time.
Look for: The pounded breast cooks evenly in 10 minutes; the whole breast is overcooked at the thin end and pink at the thick end.
Experiment
Cold or hot pan
Skin crispness.
- Start one thigh in a cold pan and one in a hot pan.
Look for: The cold-start thigh renders its fat slowly and gets crispier skin; the hot-start one browns fast but the skin can stay chewy.
Experiment
Skin down in a cold pan
Crispness.
- Cook two thighs skin-down, one pressed flat with a plate and one left free.
Look for: The pressed thigh has an even, flat, crisp skin; the free one curls and has uneven patches.
Experiment
Sauce reduced or thickened
Texture.
- Make one pan sauce reduced by half and another thickened with a teaspoon of cornflour.
Look for: The reduced sauce is intense and glossy; the cornflour one is thicker but less concentrated.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crispy-skin thighs | ||||
| Pan-fried breast with a pan sauce | ||||
| Chicken schnitzel | ||||
| Chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce | ||||
| Pounded or whole breast | ||||
| Cold or hot pan | ||||
| Skin down in a cold pan | ||||
| Sauce reduced or thickened |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken sticks to the pan | Pan not hot or you moved it too soon | Leave it until it releases on its own |
| Pale, rubbery skin | Wet skin or too high heat | Pat dry and use a cold start for thighs |
| Dry breast | Overcooked or too thick | Pound it and check 75°C |
| Raw in the middle | Too thick | Halve horizontally or finish in the oven |
| Burnt crumbs | Oil too hot | Use a medium heat |
| Split cream sauce | Boiled after the cream | Simmer gently, never boil |
Hot oil, raw chicken and leftovers
Hot pan and hot oil: roasting tins and frying pans for browning are very hot and fat spits. Use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out a little before lifting a tray, put hot things on a heatproof surface and keep children away.Raw chicken: the safety rules: raw chicken often carries campylobacter and salmonella. Never wash it (the splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen), keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, use its own board, knife and tongs, wash your hands, boards and tools in hot soapy water afterwards, and never put cooked food back on a plate or board that held raw chicken. Use it by the use-by date, or freeze it on the day you buy it.
Leftover chicken: cool cooked chicken quickly (within about 1 to 2 hours), cover and refrigerate, and eat within 2 days. Reheat only once, until steaming hot all the way through. Never leave chicken on the table for more than 2 hours. Cooked chicken can be frozen for up to about 3 months.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can pan-fry chicken without it sticking.
- I can pound a breast to an even thickness.
- I can make a pan sauce.
- I can coat and shallow-fry a schnitzel.
- I check chicken is cooked through.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Chicken 1, chapter 4 is Grilling and Barbecue: high heat, marinades and the safe centre.